Oscar s



Patented Feb. 2|, I899.

0. S. FITZSIMONS.

TOWEL HOLDER.

(Application filed 1m. 5, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR S. FITZSIMONS, OF VVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE NOVELTY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TOWEL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,948, dated February 21, 1899.

Application filed December 5,1898. Serial No. 698,249. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OSCAR S. FITZSIMONS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Towel-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive holder for ordinary towels which will permit a towel to be conveniently and instantly attached or detached, will hold either a light or heavy towel, which may be readily put in place in any piece of woodwork by any person and without the use of any tools whatever, and which, furthermore, shall be so constructed as to enable it to be manufactured by automatic machinery, thereby reducing the cost of construction to the lowest extent possible, while at the same time a neat and attractive article is produced which may be sold at an almost nominal price and will still pay a good margin of profit to the manufacturer.

With these ends in view I have devised the novel towel-holder which I will now describe, referring by reference characters to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is an elevation illustrating my novel towel-holder in use; Fig. 2, a similar view, the towel being removed, and Fig. 3, an edge view corresponding with Fig. 2.

The essential elements of my novel towelholder are four in numberto wit, a body or holder proper, which I have designated by A, a screw-eye (designated by B) with which the body is engaged, a chain or cord (designated by C) which is also engaged with the screweye, and a ball (designated by D) which is secured at the other end of the chain.

It will of course be apparent that the special details of construction are not of the essence of my invention.

The body is made from a single blank of wire which is bent at its center to form a loop 1, the sides of the loop being preferably parallel or approximately so. Above the loop the two halves of the blank of wire are curved outward and then recurved inward, forming an enlarged central opening 2. Above the central opening the sides of the blank of wire are preferably brought together or approximately together and then curved outward and recurved inward again and brought into contact, at which point the ends may be secured together, thereby forming an eye 3, the screweye being of course placed in eye 3 before the ends of the blank of wire are secured together. The chain may be connected to the screw-eye in any ordinary or preferred manner, as by a ring 4, which engages a link of the chain and also the screw-eye. I have illustrated an ordinary sheet-metal chain as used to connect the ball to the screw-eye. Of course any other style of chain or a cord may be used, if preferred. The ball may be made in any suitable manner. I preferably, however, use a ball blanked out and formed from sheet metal, balls formed in this manner from sheet metal being light but amply strong to meet the requirements of use and so inexpensive as to add but slightly to the cost of construction. The ball may be attached to the chain in any suitable manner, as by a ring 5, which is passed through a link of the chain and is rigidly secured to the ball. E in Fig. 1 indicates a towel.

The operation will be readily understood from the drawings. The operator places a single thickness of the towel near its edge over the ball, then passes the ball with the thickness of towel over it through the central opening, and then passes the lower end of the chain and with it, of course, a portion of the loop of towel which incloses the ball'downward into loop 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, the chain and the loop of towel passing readily into the loop with slight pressure, thereby securing the towel firmly in the holder, it being obvious that the only way in which the towel can be removed is by raising the ball and with it the loop of towel, so that the ball and towel may be passed out through the central opening. The chain is preferably only made long enough to permit the ball to Work freely.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A towel-holder comprising a body having an enlarged central opening, below said opening a loop and above said opening an eye, a screw-eye which is engaged by the eye on the body and a chain which also engages the screw-eye and carries a ball, said ball being adapted to engage the towel so that when the ball with a loop of towel thereon is passed through the opening and the chain and loop of towel drawn into the loop in the body the towel will be held firmly in place and can only be removed by raising the ball and passing it out through the central openmg.

2. A towel-holder comprising a body made from a blank of wire folded at its center to form a loop the halves of the blank above the loop being curved outward and then recnrved inward to form an enlarged central opening and being curved outward and then recurved inward again to form an eye, a screw-eye engaged by the eye on the body, a chain also engaging the screw-eye and a ball carried by the chain which is adapted to engage a loop of towel, and secure the towel in place when the ball is passed through the central opening and the chain and loop of towel are drawn into the loop below the central opening.

In testimony whereof I alfiiz my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

OSCAR S. FITZSIMONS. Witnesses:

FREDK. M. PEASLEY, CHAS. G. R001. 

